Pizelle's for President

You know that book that talks about the different "love languages"?  Either you feel loved by getting presents, showered with compliments, or or or, and so on.  I think there are like five of them?  Well.  I felt like none of those really 'fit' me.  I mean, who doesn't like presents?  Or a sincere compliment?  I just felt like I couldn't really commit to a language.

What I've come to realize, after many years of deep thought, is that my love language is food.  Nothing says I love you Holly, quite like a delicious stack of cookies.  You know? 

Anyway.  So now you know!  It's a wonder I'm not 500 lbs.

With some Christmas money I ordered this fancy cookie maker.  It is AMAZING and makes me so happy (and fills me up with love, if you must know).  It's a Pizelle maker.  And shoot, it makes really fancy cookies.  They taste like really thin and crispy sugar cookies.  Very tasty.

It comes with a little dowel to roll the hot cookie around, so you can make sort of a cannolli.  Well after burning my fingers off too many times, I decided to stick with the flat cookies for now.  And guess what, they taste the same!

Harvey gives them an enthusiastic yes!  And then he fed the rest of his cookie to Gesso, who gave them two thumbs up.

Oh oh, and then I smothered them in chocolate.  It was a really great idea. 

 And now for future reference, here is my very own Pizelle recipe:

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup sugar

a generous sprinkling of cinnamon

yields about 50 pizelles

Beat the eggs until smooth.  Melt the butter almost all of the way.  All the butter to cool while you blend and mix the sugar and vanilla with the eggs.  Then add the melted butter, stirring to combine.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  

I've had to add several teaspoons of water as I go along, it seems the dough starts to thicken the longer it sits?

Also, it snowed today!  Hooray for seasonally appropriate weather!

And this is what I look like now!  hehe.

yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days.  We skipped stroller bootcamp (oh yes, that's a thing. and I love it.) in favor of maybe sleeping in a little (no such luck).  By eleven o'clock there had been half a dozen wardrobe changes for both of us (poor baby has super duper reflux).  And then immediately after a bath and fresh change of clothes, I set Harvey on our bed to run some laundry downstairs and came back to find that someone had leaked through his super amazing diaper and left a big soggy blow-out present on my white sheets.  Oh man.  I felt like I just couldn't win!

And then Evan came home for lunch and scooped up the cute (but messy) baby and made us lunch.  He is my hero.



And then after lunch I put my game face back on and made another batch of our new favorite cookies (they are perfectly chewy and special).

And then I surprise painted the front door yellow.  The color is called daffodil.

And for dinner I made some delicious kidney bean and quinoa tacos. Yum!

And then there was an after dinner walk around the neighborhood.  It smells so good outside right now!

So yesterday wasn't so bad after all.

And I am a huge fan of bad days turning into good days :)

magic muffins

One Sunday when I was still pregnant, I made a list of my priorities.  Since I wasn't working and had all the time in the world, I was used to getting stuff done on my time schedule.  I knew this was about to change, and so I decided that I needed to get my priorities straight.  I listed a few things that needed to get done every day for me to feel like myself (things like going outside and having clean floors--have you seen my giant furball of a dog??), and things that weren't as important, and maybe never needed to get done (things like watching tv or doing my hair...I mean, I brush it, but you know, doing it is another story).  One of the things that made it on the important list was having good, nourishing food to eat, preferably baked by me.

Now, I was no expert on having babies, but I suspected that there wasn't always a lot of time for baking.

That's why these muffins are magic.  You mix up a big bowl of batter and it can live in the fridge for a month while you scoop out enough batter for a few muffins every day.  Magic!

These muffins have been my best friend the past few months and it's high time they made their debut on the blog.

30 Day Bran Muffins
       from Favorites by Grace Ivory Little & Jane Ivroy Metcalf

4 cups All-Bran cereal
2 cups boiling water
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour
2 cups Bran Flakes cereal


Pour boiling water over All-Bran cereal and let it sit. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs then dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk. Mix in All-Bran and water mixture. Last of all, stir in Bran Flakes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes in a greased or paper-lined muffin tins.

My favorite way to eat them is with blanched, slivered almonds piled on top before baking.  Makes them nice and crunchy!  You can also add chocolate chips, fruit, or anything else your heart desires.

cookie love

I waited as long as I could to make these cookies again.  They are so soft and good!

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies     

from deliacreates


1 c. shortening {you can use butter, but shortening produces a softer, chewier cookie}
2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. sour cream
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

5 c. all purpose flour, plus 1-2 c. more for rolling cookies out
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 375 and prepare your cookie sheets with a light mist of spray oil.  Beat your wet ingredients together.  Stir or whisk your dry ingredients together.

Mix your dry and wet mixes together to get a nice thick dough

Flour your counter and rolling pin.  Don't be shy with the flour.  This dough is quite sticky.  But also be careful not to add too much flour or the cookies will taste floury and they will crack easily.

Take a big chunk of dough and roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Cut and place on the baking sheets.
Bake for 10-15 minutes...until the top starts to look baked and oh so slightly browned.

Then let the frosting begin!
This cookie frosting/glaze is from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook:

3 TBSP. whole milk {I used half and half}

1 TBSP. softened cream cheese

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Mix 2 TBSP. milk and cream cheese together until smooth. Add sugar. Add remaining milk as needed.

Wishing you a lovely Valentine's day!!

soft pretzel bites (and where I talk about my sweet tooth turning salty)

I most definitely made pretzels last weekend.  And they were goooooood!  I have been really focusing on getting enough protein for the past few months (we herbivores need to make an extra effort!).  And I've noticed the most interesting thing happening...my giant sweet tooth (teeth?) is turning into a salt tooth.  I know.  I find it fascinating.

So normally, when hunkered down at home on a weekend afternoon, I would probably make a giant cake, I found myself making pretzels instead.

YUM!

The only problem was the cheese sauce recipe I used wasn't exactly what I was hoping for (but hey, at least it was made with real cheese!).

And so the next time I make these little gems I need to find another recipe to try.

Soft Pretzel Bites:
recipe from whatmegansmaking.com

ingredients:
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 Tablespoon light brown sugar
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3 ounces butter, melted
2 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 c. all purpose flour
vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 c. baking soda
1 whole egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon water

directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches. Cut the dough into one inch pieces. In small batches (about 15 at a time), boil the pretzel bites in the water solution for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon and place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season with coarse sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

These are best warm, but are still good at room temperature. They are best served the day they're made.

hello 2012

I surprised Evan with some Alfajor cookies on New Years Eve.  We thought they were just okay, and we shared them with some friends who thought they were super amazing.  So I guess the jury's still out.  In either case, they were pretty cookies. 

I am feeling ready for this new year.  A fresh start.  There is a big pot of change simmering on the stove at our house and I am hopeful and excited about what's to come. 

christmas baking

I woke up this morning to the sound of neighbors shoveling snow.  I love that sound.  I didn't have anything on the agenda yet, so today was a day for baking, I quickly decided. 

Even though I make them all year round, Ginger Snaps remind me of Christmas. I made them extra small this time, a bite-sized delight!

I was looking for an excuse to make peanut butter eggs again (they're that good!), so I decided that calling them 'truffles' made them more of a holiday treat.  I'm pretty smart like that.

 

I grew up with a mom who had cookie cutters for every occasion and often hosted cookie decorating parties for the neighborhood kids.  So it would just be weird not to like sugar cookies, you know?  I used a new recipe this time which was outrageous.  The secret ingredient is sour cream!  Oh yes!

 As I was trying to decide on which colors to dye the frosting, I looked outside at the piles of fresh snow and decided to leave it white.  Because white is pretty.

My kitchen is a disaster.  And I have a stomach ache from too much sugar.  But it was so nice to stay home and bake and have the Anne of Green Gables marathon playing in the background (thank you PBS!)

As soon as the frosting sets on the sugar cookies, I am going to package everything up and wait for Evan to get home so we can fill up our sleigh...er...car and go out and deliver them to friends (just in case you were worried that I was going to eat all this by myself.  Because I definitely could!).

Recipe Links:   Ginger Snaps   Peanut Butter Truffles  Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

hope you're having a delicious holiday season!!

cupcakes on thursday

Did you know that whipped ganache was a thing?  I didn't.  But now I do.  And life just got so much better! 

Whipped Ganache:

8 oz. chopped dark chocolate

1 c. heavy cream

Heat heavy cream until just boiling and pour over chopped chocolate.  Let sit for one minute and then stir until smooth.  Let ganache cool to room temperature (45 minutes or so), and then whip for 2-4 minutes with mixer.  Delicious.  Use on top of the best chocolate cake ever.

p.s. I am going to the dentist this afternoon to get a few (ish) fillings.   I wonder why???  (and don't you dare blame the ganache!)

cookies and a little chat

Peanut butter cookies are where it's at.  Evan can't eat peanut butter, and since I'm not bold enough to eat an entire batch of cookies by myself (even I have my limits!), I usually make them whenever I need to take someone cookies.  This is my favorite recipe.  And this is my second favorite recipe (trust me, I've done my research).

A few more things:

::  I got a new job!  I am now a merchandiser at a super classy decor boutique.  (oh you don't know what a merchandiser is?  It's someone who aesthetically displays the merchandise.  duh.)

::  For the past few holidays, Evan has been surprising me with new music (cute!), and on my last birthday he got me this.  I love love love it.

::  Watching this makes me hungry.

::  Our friends have a neighbor who walks his cat after dark.  He also brings his guitar and sings ballads while they walk.  It is something to behold.

I think that about covers it.  Have a wonderful day!

Pie Party 2011

Last night we gathered together some of our pie-enthusiast friends and had ourselves a little pie party.  Which was probably the most delicious idea I have ever had (also the easiest, "hey will you come over to my house for a party and bring all the food?!").

There were even prizes for the best pies!  This is Liza with her bubble prize.

p.s. These are Gesso's buddies, Sergio and Omar.  They didn't get any pie.  Or prizes, for that matter.

Confessions of a Rhubarb rookie

I'm not quite sure how I've gotten this far in life without tasting rhubarb.  I keep trying to blame my parents, but it is quite possible that it was offered to me and I just didn't want to try it (read: pickiest eater in the universe).  In any case, my life is now complete.  Rhubarb--you complete me.

Let me back up just a bit...

Last week Evan came home from work with a giant bag of rhubarb.  I stared at him in confusion.  He stared at me right back.  And then he told me to make something with it.  But it looked weird.  Like red celery.  And I wasn't about to waste butter and sugar on red celery.  Eww.

But then I did.

And I am so glad.  

This Rhubarb Crisp tastes just like summer.  I've already made it twice this week.  And I'm planning on making it again on Sunday.  Try and stop me.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:

       recipe from cooks.com

4 c. rhubarb pieces (about 1 lb.)

2 c. sliced strawberries

1 c. sugar

1 1/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. old fashioned oats

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cinnamon, and 1/3 c. of the flour.  Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.

In another bowl, combine remaining 1 c. flour with brown sugar, oats, nutmeg, and butter.  Blend well to create the streusel.  Sprinkle streusel mixture over rhubarb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

Yum. 

 Dear reader, are you a rhubarb junkie?  Are there any recipes I need to try?  Because we still have LOTS of rhubarb (and enthusiasm).

Would someone please take away my cake pans?

Because I can't stop making cakes.  

Where's the Cream Filling??

In lieu of a fancy Birthday Cake (I was lacking one of those bullet-proof-cake-dome-transporter-things), I opted for something a little different for my mom's late Birthday celebration.

Birthday Twinkies!  

I wrote about my first Twinkie experience here.  And since then, we have eaten a lot of sub-par Twinkies.  You see, I was having such a hard time getting the right recipe for the cream filling.  For the record, any recipe that has marshmallow puff and crisco??  Bad bad news.

But never fear! I have found the perfect filling/frosting to compliment these golden little cakes.

I found the frosting recipe here, but have decided to write it out again for my own archival purposes.  And don't be alarmed by the unusual list of ingredients.  You have to trust me, this frosting is amazing.  Even Evan, who thinks that the worst thing you could do to a cake is to add frosting, likes it.  So, yeah.  It's delicious. Would I lie to you?  About frosting?

That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had

     from MissyDew

5 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.  You want it to be pretty thick--brownie batter consistency.  Once thickened, remove from heat and let it cool completely.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  You don't want any sugar graininess left.  Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it.  If it looks separated, you haven't beaten it enough.  Beat!  Beat!  Beat!

Grab a spoon and eat out of the bowl.  Grab a knife and frost the cake or fill the Twinkies.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

This is also the frosting I used to fill the giant Ding Dong cake I made for Evan's Birthday.  And for those of you who asked, I've edited that post with cake instructions.

 Who knew I had such an affinity for Hostess?  *burp*

Ode to Orangette

I am in love with Orangette. I think she is smart and good and has delicious taste. And this morning I realized that I had two of Molly's recipes in my house. Two! And that seemed like kind of a big deal, so just thought I'd share.

First, her delicious Chickpea Salad. Which I like for lunch with some crusty bread. Mmmm.

And last night I made these Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies. Seriously good. And ya know what? They were even better for breakfast! If you were with me back in January you might remember me gushing about these little gems. They were a Molly too. She has good taste.

What's been going on in your kitchen lately?

Super Awesome Ginger Cookies

Every time I make these cookies (which is more often than I feel comfortable mentioning) I get a standing ovation from Evan.

And every time I bring them somewhere or share them, I get asked for the recipe.

They are those kind of cookies. Secret weapon--will you water my garden while we're gone all week--kind of cookies.

And close up, the cookies look they are full of little diamonds. So please pay attention:

Ginger Cookies

from Once Upon A Tart

2 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 c. molasses

1 1/2 c. shortening, butter or combination of both (I usually do 1 c. butter and 1/2 c. shortening, because I think butter is important)

4 c. flour

1 T. cocoa powder

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. ground cloves

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

extra sugar (we like crunchy Turbinado) for rolling cookies

Combine sugar, molasses, shortening/butter and eggs. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Roll spoonfulls of dough in sugar before placing on a cookie sheet and baking at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Useful for bribes, thank-you's, and anything that ails you.

Please put on your Birkenstocks and Tie-dye shirt before reading this post

Because I'm about to tell you about some hippie cookies. And you're gonna want to make them. I promise.

I don't think it's any secret that I have a couple of sweet teeth hanging out in my mouth. And that I like to bake. And that I usually bake sweet things. So when I can combine a little health with my sweets, I am one happy girl.

I found the recipe for these little gems in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (which is just lovely, by the way). And I haven't been able to stop making them. For reals.

I've made a couple of alterations over the past year, and this time I added some hulled hemp seeds. Because they are tasty. And so very good for you. It turned out to be a good decision. Just sayin'.

And while these cookies certainly won't win any beauty contests, they are sooooo good. And very humble.

Zucchini Cookies

from Barbara Kingsolver

1 egg

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. honey

1 T. vanilla

1 c. white flour

1 c. wheat flour (Holly note: I usually use 2 cups wheat flour and omit the white flour. It's just as delicious.)

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

(Holly addition: 4 T. hulled hemp seeds)

1 c. shredded zucchini

1 c. dark chocolate chips

Combine the wet ingredients, excluding zucchini, and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Mix in zucchini and then the chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Yum.

And now we're off to the mountains again. Again! These cookies will be coming along too.

Oatmeal saves the day

Yesterday in Billings, we had a little bit of a Wizard of Oz weather moment. It was freaky and floody and a little bit tornado-y. Luckily no one was injured and things are already being taken care of and getting back to normal again. Evan and I took a walk after the craziness, and met up with a lot of folks out doing the same. We have since decided that nothing brings a neighborhood together like a good tornado. A video can be viewed here, and some crazy pictures here.

On a less serious, but more delicious note, I need to tell you that the only thing that got me through the storm were these cookies.

Because it has been decided that I am definitely an anxiety eater when it comes to things like lightning, thunder, and funnel clouds. And these cookies were there for me. All 2 dozen of them.

And can I just say that they are amazing?! I have tried my fair share of oatmeal cookie recipes and these take the cake! Or cookie. Or whatever. They are chewy and buttery and so good to eat when you are feeling anxious.

Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart

2 c. flour

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1 c. butter

1 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 c. old fashioned rolled oats

Chocolate chips (Martha calls for dried cherries, but I disobeyed her)

Mix all the dry ingredients, except the oats, together. Cream the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add oats and then chocolate chips (or cherries). Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Eat during all kinds of weather.

my reward system

After following these boys up the mountain all day...

I'm pretty sure I earned some scrumptious strawberry pie.

With some homemade ice cream. Of course.

Thank you for understanding.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

from Better Homes & Gardens

ingredients:

8 c. fresh strawberries

2/3 c. water

2/3 c. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

directions:

Remove stems from strawberries and slice into halves.

For glaze, in a blender or food processor combine 1 cup of the strawberries and the water. Cover and blend until smooth. Add enough additional water to the mixture to equal 1 1/2 cups. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in blended strawberry mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes without stirring.

Spread about 1/4 cup of the glaze over bottom and sides of a preprepared baked pastry shell. Arrange half of the strawberries in the pastry shell.

Carefully spoon half of the glaze over strawberries, making sure all berries are covered. Arrange remaining berries over first layer. Spoon remaining glaze over berries, covering them. Chill 1-2 hours. If desired top with whipped cream. Or better yet, vanilla ice cream.

Confessions of a Chocoholic

I take my chocolate consumption very seriously. I like it to be dark and sinful. I ran out of my favorite cocoa powder last month and hadn't been able to find it anywhere. ANYWHERE.

And yes, I had been to every grocery store in town. And I had most of the grocery managers playing phone tag with their suppliers. And I even tried to place several special orders. But no. It wasn't happening.

And what is weird about this whole situation is that I usually don't even give Hershey's the time of day. I think their chocolate is bad. Bad bad. But this cocoa powder. It's something else. Something good.

So you can imagine how excited I was when a little package full of this goodness arrived on my porch the other day. Thank you Amazon. I waited exactly five seconds before busting out some brownies. And tomorrow I'm pretty sure I'm making some chocolate cake. Because it's Friday. And you should definitely have cake on Friday.

Go team!